Certain well operations, such as well intervention using coiled tubing injection, require a lift frame to position equipment above the wellhead and structurally support the equipment while well operations are being performed. The lift frame may be suspended from a derrick. A tubular string or other equipment may be hung from bail points, typically located at the bottom or near the lower end of the lift frame or through a vertical slot formed in the lift frame itself, typically in a lower section of the lift frame.
When well operations are performed offshore, the lift frame may include motion compensating systems to account for heave of the drilling platform or vessel. Because offshore platforms are also subject to wind, waves and currents, which may produce lateral offsets of the platform, one or more lift frame stabilizers may be used to ensure that the central axis of the lift frame is kept collinear with the platform well center during various operations.
A lift frame stabilizer may attach to attachment points on the lift frame and may be designed to roll up and down within a pair of vertical stabilization rails attached to the platform for stabilization purposes. Therefore, a lift frame stabilizer allows for heave compensation while simultaneously laterally stabilizing the lift frame for safe operation.